News

Train organisers transported more than 5.2 million fans to matches during 2018 FIFA
World Cup Russia™

A press conference on the rail transport services provided in support of the 2018
FIFA World Cup Russia™ took place at the press centre of the TASS news agency
in Moscow on 19 July 2018.

The conference was attended by Pavel Burtsev, head of the department for the management
of the Passenger Transportation business unit, and Kirill Polyakov, Managing Director
of the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organisation (ANO) Transport Directorate-2018.

“According to preliminary estimates, more than 5.2 million passengers were
transported between the cities hosting the World Cup matches,” said Pavel Burtsev.
“The increase in passenger transportation, taking into account fans travelling
on both the additional free trains we laid on and on regular scheduled services of
the RZD holding in June 2018 alone amounted to a 10% increase compared to the same
month last year.”

Pavel Burtsev said that the transportation of World Cup fans in additional free
trains was no longer available now that the FIFA World Cup Russia™ is over.

All 734 runs of additional trains made their journeys as scheduled, including six
high-speed Sapsan trains. A total of nearly 319,000 passengers travelled.

“The suburban complex of the RZD holding was also actively involved in supporting
fans by providing them with free transportation,” stressed Pavel Burtsev. “Thus,
during the FIFA World Cup Russia™, 12 regional suburban passenger companies
carried almost 291,000 people free of charge.”

Burtsev also noted that a significant part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™
legacy will be the modernisation and development projects for the passenger infrastructure
which were implemented by Russian Railways in preparation for the football tournament.

The RZD Holding thus reconstructed the station complexes in 11 cities hosting the
games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ with an emphasis on ensuring transport
security and adapting to the needs of low-mobility passengers.

In addition, a new infrastructure has been built and electric trains have been
arranged between the station and the international airport in Volgograd.